


There's a World that Calls for Me

by bellamysbiceps



Series: To the Ends of the Earth [3]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post Season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 04:38:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11028798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellamysbiceps/pseuds/bellamysbiceps
Summary: "They want me to stay for another month."





	There's a World that Calls for Me

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so it's been a looong time since I updated this series but school was pretty hectic so I had to put it on hold. Now that school is over I hope to upload more often for this series and other fics I'm working on. I plan to upload the next part of this series next week, but we'll see. 
> 
> Also, I have no idea what an FBI internship is like, so I kept things very vague. If there's something inaccurate I'm sorry lol.

DC, as it turns out, is kind of lonely.

Annie figures that it’s because she was so close to the study group back in Greendale. She doesn’t need a whole new family, but it would be nice to have at least one person in her life that’s got her back while she’s so far away from home.

And she loves her internship. Really loves it, actually. She wakes up every morning with a smile on her face, a jump in her step that hasn’t been there for a while. But the people there are kind of obnoxious jerks.

She’s the only intern there who comes from a community college. Everyone else she works with are from big name universities, and sometimes, it feels like they think less of her opinion because she’s not from one as well. Because of that, it’s hard making new friends.

Jeff likes to tell her that they don’t know what they’re missing.

Jeff’s one of the only people she talks to on the regular. It’s weird, sometimes, because of the way they left things. But hearing his voice, seeing his smile--well. It makes her feel way better.

They don’t ever talk about _them_. She tried, once, but he shot her down and said softly, “We should talk about this in person.”

And she gets it. They don’t want to start anything while she’s halfway across the country. And it’s only for two months, so it’s really not that long.

But what he said to her in the study room is constantly replaying in her mind. The fact that he opened the door because of her makes it obvious that he loves her, but he never actually said it out loud. She didn’t say anything to him either so most of their potential relationship is murky. She agonizes over it, which is probably not good for her mental health.

It’s a waiting game, but Annie can do the waiting game.

 

* * *

 

 

There’s a tap on her cubicle, and then, “Hey, Edison.”

Annie turns in her chair to face a smiling Ethan Smith. She smiles back, but it’s forced on her part.

“Hi, Ethan. I’m sorry, but if this is another of your hey-you’re-cute-and-I’m-hot-so-we-should-date conversations, I’m not interested,” She says, glancing back at her computer. She was in the middle of writing an important email, so having Ethan interrupting her for something as trivial as this is irritating.

She remembers the first time he tried asking her out. They were eating a snack in the break room, her some skittles and him mini chocolate chip cookies, and she had been in the middle of telling him about when Jeff and her tricked the Dean with the conspiracy about his teacher. He grabbed her skittles, put them on the table, held her hand, and said, “You know that you’re cute, right?”

She moved her hand out of his. “I guess? Why does that matter?”

“It matters because I’m hot, and that means you can date me.”

She stared at him for a good five seconds before she slapped his bag of cookies from his hand. She watched triumphantly as they broke as soon as they hit the floor.

“Bye now,” She had said, and walked back to her computer, leaving him with his mouth open behind her.

Later, when she told Jeff what had happened, he laughed and said softly, “Guess I have to start going up there, huh?”

She smiled, confused. “What do you mean?”

He grinned, sheepish, and looked away from the camera as he said, “Well, can’t have that many guys hitting on you, right?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “You don’t have anything to worry about.” She paused, cautious, because she figured that that was his weird way of showing his feelings for her. It’d be the first time he did. “But it would be nice if you visited.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then Jeff looked at her with a face of longing that left her feeling guilty. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Since then, Ethan would do whatever he could to ask her out, despite her telling him on several occasions that she did not like him at all. He would claim that she was playing hard to get, which she absolutely wasn’t.

He didn’t seem to understand.

Ethan chuckles. “Relax Edison, that’s not what I’m here for. Do you really think that little of me? Don’t answer that,” He says, when he sees her open her mouth. She smirks.

“Anyway, boss wants to talk to you. I was in his office just now, so he sent me to get you.”

At this, Annie perks up. It’s probably the most interesting thing that Ethan has ever said to her. Her eyes widen, and she says,”What? Really?”

Ethan nods. “Yup. And he said to be quick.”

“Did he say why he wanted to talk to me?” She asks, fidgeting with the pen in her hand.

“Nope,” He responds, popping the p. “But I wouldn’t worry if I were you. He didn’t look angry, if that makes you feel better.”

She looks at the ground, biting her lip. She wonders why her boss would like to talk to her--the only time he has is when she had figured out a rather difficult case and he said to her, “Good job, Edison. I’m impressed.”

She totally bragged to Jeff that night.

But now? She has no idea what he could say.

“Okay, Ethan. Thanks, I’m on my way,” Annie says finally.

Ethan gives her a toothy grin before walking out. He throws over his shoulder, “Good luck, Edison!”

 

* * *

 

 

Annie leaves her boss’ office reeling.

She keeps replaying his words inside her head-- _”I’m impressed with your job this past month. And I’m pretty sure you will continue being fantastic in the next month, so I want you to stay for another after that one.”_

The first thing she thought when her boss said that was that she would take it. The second thing she thought was one word--Jeff.

She had told him that it’d only be two months. _She_ had thought it would only be two months. Some of her motivation these past few weeks was that at the end of two short months, she would see Jeff Winger again, and maybe even get to kiss him, if he wanted to. She daydreams about their reunion all the time. She counts down the days on her calendar, crossing out every day with a neon pink marker. And to think that it would be delayed another month--well, she didn’t like it.

But she loves her internship. If she stayed another month, it would give her even more experience for future jobs. It would look amazing on an application, and she bets that she could get a stellar recommendation from her boss. It’d lead to an amazing path that she’s been working towards her entire life.

Annie sighs, leaning against the wall in the hallway.

The next few days are going to be tough.

 

* * *

 

 

Somehow, Annie avoids telling Jeff for an entire week.

She does this by making sure to shorten their Skype calls. She keeps their conversations brief, and mainly asks what he’s up to so that he can’t ask her about her internship. She doesn’t know how he’ll react when she tells him the news, so she’d rather just not tell him for right now. And she _will_ tell him. She just has to get her thoughts together and figure out exactly what she’s going to say before she mentions it to him.

She also avoids her boss, because as she doesn’t know whether or not she’s staying, she doesn’t want to talk to him and make an impulsive decision because she’s nervous.

Annie figures that she can keep going on like this until the second month is over, but then Jeff says one night, “Annie, what’s going on?”

Annie tries to look as convincing as possible as she says, “Nothing, Jeff.”

Jeff sends her a you can’t fool me look. “Annie, come on. You’ve been acting really weird lately. You don’t want to talk about your internship anymore, when just a week ago, you were going crazy with excitement. Did something happen? What aren’t you telling me?”

Annie bites her lip nervously. There’s a long silence, and Jeff’s face grows more and more concerned as it goes on.

“Annie?”

And then she blurts it out without even thinking. “They want me to stay for another month.”

The face he makes breaks her heart in two.

She sighs. “It’s--I haven’t decided anything yet. I’ve been weighing my options. But it’s such a great opportunity, you know? It’d look great in future applications, and I really love working here. I just--”

“You should stay.”

Annie stops her hand gestures in mid air. “What?”

Jeff smiles at her sadly. “You should stay in DC.”

Annie feels her eyes beginning to water, and it takes everything in her power to stop herself from crying. “But, Jeff--”

Jeff shakes his head. “Hey, it’ll be fine. It’s not that long. I can--” He pauses, clears his throat. “I can wait another month.”

They look at each other now, and Annie hates that she has to be so far away from him. She loves him so much, and he doesn’t deserve what she’s putting him through.

They had all that time at Greendale. Why didn’t they ever _do_ something?

Annie licks her lips before speaking. “Are you sure?”

It’s so soft she wonders if he hears her.

Jeff smiles, nodding. “I’m sure.”

 

* * *

 

 

Monday morning, she walks to her boss’ office.

She knocks once, waits. There’s no answer, so she knocks once more for good measure, and goes inside.

“I’ll stay that extra month.”


End file.
